Clarin mayor Eugene Ibarra walked out from the regular session of the said town’s Sangguniang Bayan (SB). Of course, this is something that did not sit well with the members of the august body of the town.
Ibarra was invited by the members of the SB to shed light on a matter during the regular session on Oct. 12, 2021. The issue, that the mayor was supposed to shed light on is related to the passage of Supplemental Budget No. 2, according to Clarin vice mayor Allen Rey Piezas.
In a telephone interview conducted by The Bohol Tribune on Oct. 16, 2021, Piezas said that the SB was about to pass the said supplemental budget to the tune of P1.650 million, which included salaries for job order (JO) employees working in the town’s parks and plaza.
“Ge invite namo si mayor [Ibarra] tungod sa iyang request nga Supplemental Budget No. 2, which kadaghanan alang sa parks and plaza nga budget; diin didto e-charge ang sweldo sa job order [employees],” Piezas explained to The Bohol Tribune.
The SB is about to approve the supplemental budget but the town council members have observed something, Piezas added.
Piezas revealed that the SB learned that the mayor allegedly charged the salaries of the JO employees assigned to work in the parks and plaza, to the funds for the coastal resource management (CRM) special project. The move could have been above board, but allegedly the mayor did not deploy the said JO employees assigned to work in the parks and plaza to the CRM project. Instead, the mayor retained said workers in non-CRM related jobs.
“Prior sa official approval sa Sangguniang Bayan as a whole, nakadawat mi ug report nga gi-utilize niya [Mayor Ibarra] ang budget sa CRM fund, intended for a special program. “
Piezas said that the SB was able to confirm transfer of the parks and plaza JO employees to the CRM after obtaining a copy of the payroll.
For this reason, the approval of the supplemental budget was deferred and the mayor was invited to shed light on the matter before the members of the SB.
Piezas said that the tractor driver, ambulance driver, market guards, the mayor’s security forces, members of the Clarin Covid Management Team, among others are working in their regular posts, their salaries are charged to the CRM funds because the budget for the parks and plaza for JO salaries had run out.
As there is no more budget to pay for the wages of those JO working in the parks and plaza, there was a necessity to pass a supplemental budget.
“In other words, murag gigamit ang CRM funds pero wala nya gipatrabaho [ang mga transferred JO] sa CRM,” Piezas quipped.
The SB just wanted the mayor to explain why majority of parks and plaza JO employees who were supposed to be transferred to the CRM, were allegedly retained in their old work stations, and not in the CRM.
The regular session was streamed live on Facebook. Hence, there was a recording of what happened in the session that day.
Ibarra attended the session bringing with him members of the Local Finance Committee (LFC). The mayor attended the session with the intent to shed light on the issue.
As the session progressed, Clarin’s Liga ng mga Barangay president Carlo Ombajin, who is also the Punong Barangay of Bonbon, spoke and explained that the supplemental budget was about to be approved by the SB, but was deferred due to the issue.
Ombajin said that while the intent of looking for funds for the JO wages is noble, still there is a need to follow the law.
“Bisan ang atong katuyuan tabang sa atong mga job order [employees[, pero we need to follow the process of law,” Ombajin said.
Ombajin clarified that he has no objection to any move to find funds for the wages of the JO workers. Ombajin added that the SB wants to help the Ibarra administration and has no plans to go after the mayor, if in case the latter commits an error. Ombajin stressed that he SB does not have any plans at all to file a complaint before the Commission on Audit or the Ombudsman.
It was at this point when the mayor answered by saying: “So kun unsa ang imong naa sa imong [Carlo Ombajin] hunahuna, imo ra na. Ang akong hangyo nimo kap [Carlo Ombajin] dili na nato tas-on ug tabangi mi makasweldo sa workers. I think the local finance [committee] can answer [the issue],” Ibarra retorted following the statement of Ombajin.
The mayor added that he only wanted to serve the town and if he would be brought to the Ombudsman then he will be answering charges in the “proper forum”.
After this, the mayor stormed out of the SB Session Hall, reports say. Thus, the mayor was unable to explain his side regarding the issue.
The Bohol Tribune asked Piezas if the SB will invite the mayor anew, but Piezas said that it would be unlikely.